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of 2 who succumbed early in September to what proved to be a
fatal attack. In the third case the diagnosis was not confirmed.
Both patients were treated in general hospitals.
DYSENTERY.
Only one patient was this year notified as suffering from
dysentery, a girl of 3 whose onset was in December, 1939, but whose
complaint was not diagnosed until February when she was admitted
to a near-by general hospital.
FOOD POISONING.
Four patients were notified as suffering from food poisoning,
of whom two were members of the same family, and one was
sufficiently ill to require hospital treatment. Abdominal pain,
vomiting and diarrhoea were the symptoms usually encountered.
All patients made early recovery.
ERYSIPELAS.
37 cases of erysipelas were notified during the year, of which
22 were in females. The face was the affected site in 25, the head
and the ear 3 each, and the leg in 4.
10 patients were treated in hospital, 7 being admitted to isolation
and 3 to general hospitals. At one period it proved impossible to
obtain accommodation anywhere and one patient who later died
of the illness had to be refused admission. The onset of the
illness in 24 of the patients was in the four months September to
December.
CEREBRO-SPINAL FEVER.
In common with most of the country the district had a heavier
than usual incidence of cerebro-spinal fever, 38 cases being notified,
but the notification being withdrawn in the case of two. The
distribution of the cases throughout the year was most irregular.
After 2, 4 and 3 cases with onsets in the first three months of the
year 9 and 7 cases were notified in April and May; the next three
months were free, then one case in September was followed by 2 in
October and by 4 each in November and in December.
All patients were removed to hospital for treatment, 23 to
Redhill County Hospital, 5 to other general hospitals and 8 to
isolation hospitals.
Of the 36 patients, 16 were adults, of whom 13 were males;
3 were babies under one year of age; 8 were children of ages 1 to
5; while 7, of whom 6 were girls, were aged 5 to 15.
Three cases proved fatal.
MEASLES.
Measles and whooping-cough were made notifiable towards
the end of 1939. Measles was for a time added to the list of the
diseases required to be notified during the last war, together with